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La face de Bellevarde is a World Cup downhill ski course in France, on Rocher de Bellevarde mountain in Val-d'Isère, Savoie; it debuted at the 1992 Winter Olympics with the men's downhill.[1][2][3]
| La face de Bellevarde | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Place: |  Val-d'Isère, France |
| Mountain: | Rocher de Bellevarde |
| Architect: | Bernhard Russi (SUI) |
| Opened: | 1992 |
| Level: |  Expert |
| Competition: | Critérium of the First Snow |
| Downhill | |
| Start: | 2,807 m (9,209 ft) (AA) |
| Finish: | 1,848 m (6,063 ft) |
| Vertical drop: | 959 m (3,146 ft) |
| Length: | 2.998 km (1.863 mi) |
| Max. incline: | 35.4° degrees (71%) |
| Avr. incline: | 17.8° degrees (32.1%) |
| Avr. incline: | 2.8° degrees (5%) |
| Giant slalom | |
| Start: | 2,300 m (7,546 ft) (AA) |
| Finish: | 1,850 m (6,070 ft) |
| Vertical drop: | 450 m (1,476 ft) |
| Slalom | |
| Start: | 2,065 m (6,775 ft) (AA) |
| Finish: | 1,845 m (6,053 ft) |
| Vertical drop: | 220 m (722 ft) |
It is only about two kilometres (1.2 mi) kilometres up the road from "Piste Oreiller-Killy" in La Daille, another legendary course with a lengthier World Cup tradition.
With 17.8 degrees (32.1%) incline it is the world's steepest giant slalom course in average gradient, with no flat sections, only steepness the whole time.
This competition is known as the Critérium of the First Snow (Critérium de la première neige).
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The course was developed for the 1992 Winter Olympics, designed by Swiss Olympic downhill champion Bernhard Russi, a respected constructor of downhill slopes around the world. The official opening was planned for late 1991 with two World Cup events, but the course was not yet finished. Both were moved to the nearby Oreiller-Killy course, and held on 7–8 December.[4]
The Bellevarde course was officially opened two months later at the Olympics with the men's downhill competition; later events on the slope included combined, super-G, and giant slalom.
Near the end of 1992, the World Cup circuit premiered on this course with Super-G and slalom events on 6–7 December; the downhill was cancelled due to poor weather conditions.[5][6] In February 2008, World Cup races returned after an absence of more than fifteen years; it became a regular host on the men's calendar, rarely exchanged with Oreiller-Killy.
A year later in February 2009, Val d'Isere hosted its first World Championships. All of the men's events and the women's technical events (GS, SL) were held on the Bellevarde slope; the team event was cancelled.
Course sections from GS start
- Passage de la Rute
- Le Rocher
- Slalom Start
- Le Mur
- Le Stade Olympique
- La Flamme
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Men's events
| Event | Type | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | DH | 9 February 1992 |  Patrick Ortlieb |
Franck Piccard |
Günther Mader |
| KB | 10–11 February 1992 |  Josef Polig |
Gianfranco Martin |
 Steve Locher | |
| SG | 16 February 1992 |  Kjetil André Aamodt |
 Marc Girardelli |
Jan Einar Thorsen | |
| GS | 18 February 1992 | Alberto Tomba |
Marc Girardelli |
Kjetil André Aamodt |
- The slalom was held at Les Menuires on 22 February.
Men's events
Location in France
Location in Europe
| Event | Type | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | SG | 4 February 2009 | Didier Cuche |
Peter Fill |
Aksel Lund Svindal |
| DH | 7 February 2009 |  John Kucera |
Didier Cuche |
Carlo Janka | |
| SC | 9 February 2009 | Aksel Lund Svindal |
Julien Lizeroux |
 Natko Zrnčić-Dim | |
| GS | 13 February 2009 | Carlo Janka |
Benjamin Raich |
 Ted Ligety | |
| SL | 15 February 2009 | Manfred Pranger |
Julien Lizeroux |
Michael Janyk |
Women's events
| Event | Type | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | GS | 12 February 2009 |  Kathrin Hölzl |
 Tina Maze |
 Tanja Poutiainen |
| SL | 15 February 2009 | Maria Riesch |
 Šárka Záhrobská |
Tanja Poutiainen |
Team event
Poor weather conditions.
| Event | Type | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | PG | 11 February 2009 | cancelled due to heavy snowfall over the night | ||
It is part of traditional annual "Critérium of the First Snow" (Critérium de la première neige) competition.
| Bernhard Russi (SUI) | Marcel Hirscher (AUT) |
|---|---|
 |
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| The course constructor | won record 4 giant slaloms and record 3 slaloms |
Men
| No. | Type | Season | Date | Winner | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DH | 1991/92 | 7 December 1991 | course was not yet ready for scheduled premiere; replaced on nearby Oreiller-Killy course | |||
| SG | 8 December 1991 | |||||
| DH | 1992/93 | 4 December 1992 | downhill cancelled due to poor weather conditions | |||
| 762 | SG | 5 December 1992 | Jan Einar Thorsen | Franz Heinzer | Luigi Colturi | |
| 763 | SL | 6 December 1992 |  Thomas Fogdö | Thomas Sykora | Hubert Strolz | |
| DH | 2007/08 | 2 February 2008 | replaced in Kvitfjell on 29 February 2008 | |||
| 1325 | SC | 3 February 2008 | Bode Miller | Ivica Kostelić | Natko Zrnčić-Dim | |
| 1345 | SC | 2008/09 | 12 December 2008 | Benjamin Raich | Jean-Baptiste Grange | Marcel Hirscher |
| 1346 | GS | 13 December 2008 | Carlo Janka | Massimiliano Blardone | Gauthier de Tessières | |
| SL | 14 December 2008 | strong winds; replaced in Alta Badia on 22 December 2008 | ||||
| 1381 | SC | 2009/10 | 11 December 2009 | Benjamin Raich | Marcel Hirscher | Manfred Mölgg Romed Baumann |
| 1382 | SG | 12 December 2009 | Michael Walchhofer | Ted Ligety | Werner Heel | |
| 1383 | GS | 13 December 2009 | Marcel Hirscher | Massimiliano Blardone | Benjamin Raich | |
| 1413 | GS | 2010/11 | 11 December 2010 | Ted Ligety | Aksel Lund Svindal | Massimiliano Blardone |
| 1414 | SL | 12 December 2010 | Marcel Hirscher | Benjamin Raich | Steve Missillier | |
| GS | 2011/12 | 10 December 2011 | lack of snow; replaced in Beaver Creek on 6 December 2011 | |||
| SL | 11 December 2011 | lack of snow; replaced in Beaver Creek on 8 December 2011 | ||||
| 1495 | GS | 2012/13 | 8 December 2012 | Alexis Pinturault | Felix Neureuther | Marcel Hirscher |
| 1496 | SL | 9 December 2012 | Marcel Hirscher | Stefan Luitz | Ted Ligety | |
| 1529 | GS | 2013/14 | 14 December 2013 | Marcel Hirscher | Thomas Fanara | Stefan Luitz |
| 1530 | SL | 15 December 2013 | Mario Matt | Mattias Hargin | Patrick Thaler | |
| GS | 2014/15 | 13 December 2014 | lack of snow; replaced in Åre on 12 December 2014 | |||
| SL | 14 December 2014 | lack of snow; replaced in Åre on 14 December 2014 | ||||
| 1599 | GS | 2015/16 | 12 December 2015 | Marcel Hirscher | Felix Neureuther | Victor Muffat-Jeandet |
| 1600 | SL | 13 December 2015 | Henrik Kristoffersen | Marcel Hirscher | Felix Neureuther | |
| 1642 | GS | 2016/17 | 10 December 2016 | Alexis Pinturault | Marcel Hirscher | Henrik Kristoffersen |
| 1643 | SL | 11 December 2016 | Henrik Kristoffersen | Marcel Hirscher |  Aleksandr Khoroshilov | |
| 1679 | GS | 2017/18 | 9 December 2017 | Alexis Pinturault | Stefan Luitz | Marcel Hirscher |
| 1680 | SL | 10 December 2017 | Marcel Hirscher | Henrik Kristoffersen | André Myhrer | |
| 1715 | GS | 2018/19 | 8 December 2018 | Marcel Hirscher | Henrik Kristoffersen | Matts Olsson |
| SL | 9 December 2018 | heavy snowfall and wind; replaced in Saalbach-Hinterglemm on 20 December 2018 | ||||
| GS | 2019/20 | 14 December 2019 | moved on 15th due to weather, then finally cancelled; replaced in Hinterstoder on 1 March 2020 | |||
| 1754 | SL | 15 December 2019 | Alexis Pinturault | André Myhrer | Stefano Gross | |
| 1824 | GS | 2021/22 | 11 December 2021 | Marco Odermatt | Alexis Pinturault | Manuel Feller |
| 1825 | SL | 12 December 2021 | Clément Noël | Kristoffer Jakobsen | Filip Zubčić | |
| 1860 | GS | 2022/23 | 10 December 2022 | Marco Odermatt | Manuel Feller | Žan Kranjec |
| 1861 | SL | 11 December 2022 | Lucas Braathen | Manuel Feller | Loïc Meillard | |
| 1894 | GS | 2023/24 | 9 December 2023 | Marco Odermatt | Marco Schwarz |  Joan Verdú |
| SL | 10 December 2023 | cancelled due to wet snow and strong wind | ||||
| 1934 | GS | 2024/25 | 14 December 2024 | Marco Odermatt |
Patrick Feurstein |
Stefan Brennsteiner |
| 1935 | SL | 15 December 2024 | Henrik Kristoffersen |
Atle Lie McGrath |
Loïc Meillard | |
Not in original World Cup calendar. It replaced super combined from Beaver Creek.
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